YAWCT -- Yet another "what car" thread

So it looks like my old Subaru wagon winter beater may be on its last legs. Brakes, struts, AC and various other repairs, I was game. Another new engine and transmission, not so much.

This thing serves two purposes: it's the winter beater, so I don't have to drive the Miata in the snow, and it's the all-purpose Home Depot run, carry the dogs, do the dirty work hauler.

Whatever replaces it has to be great in the snow, have four seats, decent gas mileage, be cheap, not so ugly that my wife makes me park it down the street and pretend we don't own it, and not a big bundle of new problems.

Generally speaking, I like wagons. Would prefer to come in well under $5k.

In this case, Miata is not the answer. I already have one, and it kinda sucks for the sort of duty the Subie gets pressed into. I need the go-anywhere, do-anything workhorse.

So, whaddaya suggest?

Nother subaru.

That was my first thought, too, except Subarus seem to be going for stupid money around here right now. $6,000 for a 2000 with 144,000 on the clock? No thanks.

Minivan? They're cheap.

Ready for this? Our PT Cruiser has been phenomenal except it's mileage isn't great. Roughly 28 on the highway and 24 around town. If you can deal with that and the looks and the tough timing belt changes, it's awesome at carrying cargo and being the most reliable vehicle -in the world

My dad just picked up a well maintained '90 suburban. Its like an overgrown station wagon but with 4wd. It seats 8. He claims he's getting around 20 mpg on the highway, but I am still skeptical. Paid $2500.

Whats more predictable than a sbc 350 and a 700R4? Damn near every part is a LMC catalog away. We just put in a 4'x8' piece of drywall flat between the wheel arches. We both looked at each other and said "Why didn't we get one of these years ago?"

It might not be your kind of rig, but damn is it useful.

tuna55 wrote: Ready for this? Our PT Cruiser has been phenomenal except it's mileage isn't great. Roughly 28 on the highway and 24 around town. If you can deal with that and the looks and the tough timing belt changes, it's awesome at carrying cargo and being the most reliable vehicle -in the world

Oh, and they are crazy cheap. Our Limited 2001 with 135k on it with leather/suede is worth like 3-4k.

DoctorBlade wrote: OLD Minivan? They're cheap.

Fixed that for you. New Minivans are anything but cheap. heck, a five year old Ody or Sienna is still well over 20k.

Corolla or Camry Wagon AllTrac.

tuna55 wrote: Ready for this? Our PT Cruiser has been phenomenal except it's mileage isn't great. Roughly 28 on the highway and 24 around town. If you can deal with that and the looks and the tough timing belt changes, it's awesome at carrying cargo and being the most reliable vehicle -in the world

My roommate has one. It has incredibly bad gas mileage for what it is. He is getting like 20 around town and he isn't an aggressive driver. Also he has trouble with the brakes.

awd astro van.

93EXCivic wrote:

tuna55 wrote: Ready for this? Our PT Cruiser has been phenomenal except it's mileage isn't great. Roughly 28 on the highway and 24 around town. If you can deal with that and the looks and the tough timing belt changes, it's awesome at carrying cargo and being the most reliable vehicle -in the world

My roommate has one. It has incredibly bad gas mileage for what it is. He is getting like 20 around town and he isn't an aggressive driver. Also he has trouble with the brakes.

That's odd. My wife and I drove ours for four or five years before replacing the brakes, and they were not new when I got it and were not completely worn when I replaced them. At that it took me 11 minutes. Total. To replace the front pads. I've also certainly never seen anything below 24 mpg ever.

In reply to tuna55:

He replaced the pads and etc with Chrysler parts and the damn things won't stop squealing. Also the hood paint is fading badly. But all in all it hauls a lot of stuff, the interior seems to be fairly hard wearing if you can stand being seen in one.

Saturn SW2?

Volvo cross country? I see them pretty cheap in cl. But its probably a maintenace nightmare...

I've heard bad things about reliability and repair cost about the Volvo Cross Country, but they can be picked up rather cheap even out here.

Tim Baxter wrote: That was my first thought, too, except Subarus seem to be going for stupid money around here right now. $6,000 for a 2000 with 144,000 on the clock? No thanks.

You living down the road from me or what? It's the same out here and I'm getting closer to be in the same boat as my CJ7 looks more and more like a resto project by the day.

For the sort of budget that you mention, out here I'd get:

• A leggy mid-late 90s Subaru Legacy Wagon, if I'm lucky with a stick, because I've got really bad memories of a Subaru slushbox
• More or less any 90s Suburban or Tahoe model with the exception of the Turbodiesel.
• Beat up old trucks. No thanks.
• Very, very occasionally you can get a Mercedes W124 4-matic wagon for that sort of money, but if those break, you're talking major money

I'm trying to come up with some sort of sensible idea for a winter vehicle for me and I'm somewhat dithering between a Suburban and a Legacy wagon. Don't think I'd want an Impreza Wagon, the Legacy is just more practical if you actually need to move stuff around.

Actually from time to time I'm thinking that a big block Suburban might not be such a bad idea after all - they're often lower mileage than the SBC ones (gee, I wonder why) and have stupid amounts of torque for towing.

W123 Wagon Diesel with extra set of wheels and snow tires?

Got a big block Suburban myself. Mileage seems to be around 10 mpg (for a two wheel drive - four wheel drive would have to be even worse) but it'll haul anything you ask it to, and the big block gives it pretty decent get up and go for something that big. Not to mention a pretty nice soundtrack.

I automatically assumed that Tim would have wanted something AWD but if that's not a necessity then a W123 Turbo Diesel wagon is kinda cool, but I'd also look at Volvo bricks and maybe pre-GM SAAB 900s.

MadScientistMatt wrote: Got a big block Suburban myself. Mileage seems to be around 10 mpg (for a two wheel drive - four wheel drive would have to be even worse) but it'll haul anything you ask it to, and the big block gives it pretty decent get up and go for something that big. Not to mention a pretty nice soundtrack.

IIRC the 4x4 big block comes in roughly at the same mileage unless you actually stick in four wheel drive. The Vortec is supposed to be better on gas but also more expensive.

I'd still love a TD Suburban but finding one that hasn't been to the outer reaches of the solar system and back for decent money seems to be an impossible task.

tuna55 wrote:

DoctorBlade wrote: OLD Minivan? They're cheap.

Fixed that for you. New Minivans are anything but cheap. heck, a five year old Ody or Sienna is still well over 20k.

Should have specified.

Volvo 850 wagon? Not as great as a Subaru in the snow, since it's not AWD, but I bet a set of snow tires would make it really damn good.

2nd a Volvo wagon with snow tires ....and turbo.

Specifically designed to haul fatsos means it'll swallow a lot of weight before it starts having issues. Plus, more comfortable than almost anything out there.